Queen takes Queen

After day three of racing at the Dragon Gold Cup

Denmark's Jorgen Schonherr's African Queen went into today's race as leader only to hand over first place in this the third race of the Dragon Gold Cup to German Fritz Werner's BB Queen, held in perfect sailing conditions.

While Werner and his crew of Thomas Auracher and Markus Wieser have stormed into the lead so far having scored two bullets and an eighth place, they are followed by the top French boat Jean-Gabriel Pasturaud and his two crew Daniel Peponnet and Jean-Gabriel Pasturaud who yesterday crossed the finish just behind the Danish yacht.

"We've started with two great races," says Pasturaud. "On these boats, it takes a bit of luck, but up until now, we've been rewarded for the choices we have made. It must be said that in the first two races, African Queen seemed to stand out from the others."

Pasturaud is far from being a novice. He has been a keen sailor on these boats now for 20 years, finishing third at the Gold Cup on three occasions in the 1989, 1992 and 1993 and was second in the 1995 regatta. He has also been French champion eight times, including last February aboard his Vol de nuit. "The Dragon is probably the only class in the world able to bring together such a great line-up of participants as this," he says. "Besides that, it's a fabulous boat that requires meticulous attention to all the settings. But in this crew, we have two dentists and one wine grower - we're amateurs, who train whenever we find the time."

However while amateur this crew includes Daniel Peponnet, elder brother of the double Olympic medallist and skipper of Areva Challenge, Thierry Peponnet. “He's our brain, our on board computer,” explains Pasturaud. “We listen carefully to what he has to say. For the moment, he hasn't been wrong very often in his analysis of the sailing area and the weather."

Today the fortune of the top French crew took a down turn finishing in a respectable 10th place. In the fight between BB Queen and African Queen, Fritz Werner's boat won out moving into the top of the leaderboard.

Results
(NB: races score 1st=0 points, 2nd=3, 3rd=5.7, 4th=8, 5th=10, 6th=11.7, 7th=13. etc)

Pos	Sail no	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	Tot pnts
1	GER 1030	QUEEN	WERNER Fritz	1	8	1	14
2	FRA 340	VOL DE NUIT	HEBRARD Dominique	3	2	10	24.7
3	GER 1035	ROSI	OCKER Philip	13	6	3	36.4
4	GER 1007	SEABISCUIT	BRENNECKE Marcus	6	5	17	44.7
5	DEN 375	AFRICAN QUEEN	SCHÖNHERR Jorgen	2	1	41	50
6	IRL 187	ROGUE	HENNESSY Robin	15	29	6	67.7
7	GBR 708	RUMOURS	JONES Lens	14	12	24	68
8	GER 996	SINEWAVE	MÜLLER Thomas	4	35	16	71
9	IRL 196	WHISPER	COTTER Mishael	19	23	11	71
10	FRA 355	DIRASTARC'H	KERSALE Yann	16	34	7	75
11	FRA 300	AR YOULEG	URVOIS Louis	22	11	26	77
12	GER 1029	ZENZI	GLAS Markus	28	26	8	80
13	NED 370	HARD TACK	DU PON Andre	7	17	39	81
14	DEN 372	KING	SELKO Bo	38	15	14	85
15	UKR 777	BUNKER	PUGACHEV Sergey	26	4	44	90
16	RUS 25	VERSIA 3.0	KARACHINSKY Anatoly	8	16	48	90
17	SWE 336	PILEN	LOFSTEDT Tom	10	25	37	90
18	NED 311	FALINE	DE WILDE Abram	33	47	2	95
19	GER 976	MONTANA	DAVID Dirk	34	7	36	95
20	GER 1001	LITTLE WOLFI	RAPPEL Wolfgang	23	27	30	98
21	DEN 379	DITTE	LEERBECK Finn	12	33	40	103
22	FRA 334	AVEL DRO	PERNES Francois	47	40	4	107
23	FIN 50	RAT-PACK	DAHLMAN Henrik	5	31	57	110
24	IRL 181	JESSICA	WOODS Ward	53	10	31	112
25	RUS 50	KOMILFO	POLISHOUK Sergey	27	20	50	115
26	IRL 193	KIN	BRIEN Simon	54	14	33	119
27	GBR 716	JERBOA	WILKINSON-COX Gavia	9	48	46	121
28	NED 318	GOLLYWOG	LAAMENS Gérard	45	45	15	123
29	RUS 31	CONVERGENCE	SENATOROV Mikhail	68	19	21	126
30	FRA 296	AR DIZAON	LE DEROFF Jean Yves	46	3	66	129.7
31	RUS 77	DIAMOND	SHTERNBERG Inna	29	63	20	130
32	DEN 367	ANNE SOFIE	SORENSEN Thomas	41	28	43	130
33	FRA 316	ECLIPSE	DANET Jean Claude	42	18	54	132
34	SUI 303	GREEN HORN	MEIER Werner	25	49	42	134
35	NED 227	PEER DE SCHUIMER	KUHLWILM Joep	17	32	69	136
36	GER 928	TABALUGA	METZING Thomas	70	37	12	137
37	POR 49	PAMALICAN	DE LACERDA Francisco	71	42	9	140
38	GER 965	BINGO	EHRLICHER Ingo	35	64	23	140
39	IRL 189	DATZ IT	MATTHEWS James	21	30	76	145
40	GBR 6	CLAIRVOYANT	PAYNE Martin	11	56	65	150
41	FRA 360	AR GWELLAN	PEYRON Bruno	48	13	71	150
42	GER 1028	ICICLE	PFLÜGER Udo	50	76	13	157
43	SWE 334	SWEET ALICE II	LILJEBLAD Hans	30	51	61	160
44	GBR 711	LEAH	WOODCOCK Colin	90	50	5	162
45	FRA 279	TERMAJI	AUDIGANE Nicolas	64	22	60	164
46	GBR 688	QUICKSILVER 3	CAMPBELL Robert	32	46	68	164
47	GBR 700	PRINCESS JALINA	PALMER David	43	62	45	168
48	NED 357	WODAN II	VAN OLST Roel	20	BFD	25	171
49	RUS 6	STASYA	SHMID Alexander	39	58	56	171
50	GBR 684	HAND OF FORTUNE	HOLMES Mike	37	66	51	172